to borrow money off the kids to replace manky bathroom?

[gruffalobuffalo]

We moved house not long ago and have been busy decorating, putting down carpets etc. We inherited a yucky bathroom complete with manky smelly carpet and our plan was to save up to replace the suite, tiles and flooring later this year. We had a leak at the weekend resulting in the bathroom carpet being drenched with water. The leak has been sorted out but the carpet absolutely stinks to high heaven (it was only water that leaked but it seems to have reactivated all the yucky smells in the carpet!). I could take the carpet up but then it's bare boards and with a SEN toddler, that would be difficult. I don't want to waste money on temporary flooring that could go towards proper flooring if you see what I mean.

It's going to take four or five months to put aside money each month to pay for the bathroom. We're not having anything fancy, only need about 1K but our savings have been swallowed up due to the moving fees and we're slowly building them back up and would rather not touch our 'emergency' money which is there for car repairs etc. This would be the last essential house job we'd have to do. Would it be awful to borrow out of the children's savings accounts to get the bathroom done soon and pay them back each month over the next four or five months?

It would be sensible I think. If you had twinges of guilt then you could add a bit extra as interest.

As long as you're certain that the money will be replaced then I can't see why anyone would object.

I don't think there's anything wrong with that, it's not as if you're taking it off them as you plan on paying it back.

Its also more benificial to them to have a safe and hygienic bathroom.

Go for it.

I would use emergency money first and then if you have any emergencies borrow from the children's savings.

It's your money until the children are old enough to manage it themselves - don't feel guilty about it - it's nice to save for children but if it's a nice full account doing nothing or a manky bathroom (which they will use), which one makes more sense? Just do it!

Saying that I have in the past used money from dd to pay for essentials so I don't think it is wrong in any way.

sounds sensible to me.

how old are DC? Just that older children (teens I'm thinking) might need to be consulted if they have a way of knowing (online banking etc).

I imagine the emergency money is in some kind of account with higher interest if the OP doesn't want to break into it, Cant?

yanbu
this is for the dc's benefits and wellbeing as well.

I would just by a bit of Lino as a temporary floor covering ,you could probably pick up a suitable oddment at a carpet place very cheaply.

Will you loose more interest borrowing from the emergency funds or from your kids savings. I would use the cheapest money IYSWIM

However, if you have just moved in and are that short of cash it might be worth buying a cheapie carpet (which could be REALLY cheap and waiting to save up. There may be other unexpected costs that you might be unable to put off at all.

Does your insurance not give you something towards new flooring?

If you had a leak you would be covered by insurance. Carpet will be covered by contents insurance and laminate etc by building insurance I think.

Who put the money into the kids account in the first place? If it was you then I'd have no issue using it and repaying. If it was a grandparent then I'd just run it by them first.

(We did this for a similar project this year. Money now replayed and it was great to get the job done when we needed it rather than when we could afford it.)

As do someone else said, it totally depends on who put the money into the account.

As you mention a SEN toddler, you may be able to get a grant for something like this. I have had bathroom improvements paid for by Family Fund.

Oooh, it's nice to know that I'm not being awful! Think we'll do it!

I could borrow £500 off each of my DD's who are 11 and 9 (they have about 2k each in savings) without them being aware as they don't do banking themselves. The money is made up of money we put in, money from family when they were born and birthday/Christmas money from when they were younger and didn't want to instantly spend it. We occasionally add to it as and when we can.

I can pay back £100 a month to each of them so the money would be paid back in five months time if not sooner if we're careful. I know that the money would definitely be paid back, I couldn't live with myself if we didn't. We would have had the money saved up but had a run of bad luck with the car, three children's birthdays, essential gardening work to make it safe for DS, a £350 school trip for 11 year old DD with only a couple of weeks notice due to her moving house and joining a new school partway through the year, and so on ....

It's just the smell more than anything and I worry about hygiene. You literally have to hold your nose to bath DS and it would be nice to have a fresh carpet free bathroom complete with a toilet seat that doesn't fall off the loo every time you move your bum!

go for it!

The insurance excess is £250 for water damage so it would probably be cheaper to replace the carpet ourselves with lino/tiled floor when we do the whole bathroom. If it had been a really big leak that had gone through the ceiling etc (luckily we caught it in time) then it would be worth doing as an insurance job.

I heard about the family fund and am waiting for an application form. We're hoping to apply for an 'exciting' bed for DS among other things as he hates his cot and won't sleep in a toddler bed. The reason I wouldn't put bathroom adaptions down as a request is that a plumber friend is going to get us the suite etc at trade price so it will save us quite a bit. We also want to get it done asap rather than waiting for our application to be assessed.

The money we'd borrow would be purely money we've added to their accounts over the years rather than 'their own' money if you see what I mean. It would be fully paid back with interest.

I would as the bathroom will be a lot more pleasant for them to use.

Also I would aim to pay it back in 10 months.

I am a dissenting voice - I think it's absolutely wrong to take money out of the kids savings accounts. And actually, it's illegal - once you open an account for children (getting the tax break and preferential rates associated with the account) then any money withdrawn must only be used for the direct benefit of that child. I don't think that house renovations count, personally.

I think you should either save for it, or get a loan. Once you start dipping into kids accounts, then you're on a slippery slope. Excusable if you are in extreme circumstance (life/death, utter poverty etc.), but not otherwise.

Just my opinion, sorry.

I think it's fine, but I'd be loathe to do it without their knowledge, at that age.

I think you should explain the situation to them, and explain the repayments. Otherwise it seems a bit like stealing underhand.

If it makes you feel any better, I had to borrow some money from my DS' savings to pay for my best friends hen weekend, as we have no spare money at the moment, and I really couldn't get out of going. The hen do is next month and I think I am going to feel bad about it all weekend and not enjoy myself as a result, even though I have promised myself that when I can afford it, I will put back twice as much as I have borrowed!

Go for it, your reasons are a lot more important than mine were!

Sod the interest I take it one day they will inherit the house.

Gosh, I'm shocked so many people think it's okay to take from kids' savings accounts! I know your intentions are honourable, OP, but what happens when another run of bad luck means you can't pay back? You are a trustee of the child's account (presumably, unless another family member is), you are not entitled to take money out of the account just because you want to.